Thoughtful Tips

Soy Milk may be substituted for Milk when baking Quick Breads/Muffins/Pancakes.

Olive Oil for Baking & Sauteing can be substituted for Butter/Margarine while preparing Quick Breads/Muffins/Pancakes.

Use an oven thermometer!

My first baking experience in our newly purchased home made me aware that my oven temperature was off by 75°F.

Keep an extra container of paper muffin liners in the pantry.

Not fun to be lining the muffin pans and discover that more liners are needed when the batter is ready to go.

Ask your children/grandchildren to help with an easy recipe.

Many Math lessons using fractions are found in the kitchen!

Helps teach about healthy ingredients.

Can begin a desire to learn to cook.

Coat Blueberries with Flour before adding them to a Quick Bread recipe, so the Blueberries will not sink while baking.

I store 5 lbs. of All Purpose Flour and of Sugar in large plastic containers in my cabinet. My son gave me a great tip a few years ago - Place additional Flour in a 2 cup plastic container and Sugar in a 1 cup plastic container. When a recipe calls for a few Tablespoons or less of these ingredients, the larger heavier containers need not be taken down from the second shelf in my cabinet. The lighter Ziploc containers are located on the first shelf.

King Arthur Unbleached Flour makes some mighty tasty pancakes!

When using Cream of Mushroom condensed soup in a Slow Cooker, it can be substituted with 3 Tablespoons of All Purpose Flour combined with 12 oz. of Light & Fat Free College Inn Chicken Broth. This substitution works very well in Chicken Florentine a la Slow Cooker.

When baking breads containing Yeast: Givethe dough the opportunity to
rise. On a chilly winter day if my kitchen is not warm, I turn my oven on to 350°F for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, Iturn the oven
off. Place the dough filled pans (that are covered with a dish towel) on my stove top. Before
preheating my oven to bake the breads, reposition the pans - off the stove and onto my counter near the side of my stove. The
dough will rise, as expected!

When using Peaches while baking/ making jam, the skin needs to be removed. To remove Peach skin from a ripened Peach - place the Peach in simmering water for about 35 seconds. Remove, cool. The skin peels with no waste.

***An easy method to ripen Peaches is to place 3- 4 of them (stem side
down) in a brown paper lunch bag. Close the top & leave on your
kitchen counter for 1- 2 days. Then check to see if the Peaches are
ripe. If not, close bag & check the next day. After ripening,
refrigerate.